


A Trip to So-Called Paradise

by LadyNoLuck



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-30
Updated: 2014-06-30
Packaged: 2018-02-06 20:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1871526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyNoLuck/pseuds/LadyNoLuck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi has been sent to Maui for a business trip, a trip he doesn't want to be on to a place so sunny it's annoying. Despite his hatred for the trip, he soon finds out that it is the perfect opportunity to indulge his guilty pleasures, but an annoying local can't help but get interested in him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Trip to So-Called Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> whatamievendoingihaveamidtermtodayandihaven'tsleptandineedtoupdateotherstorieslikeyesterday  
> By the way, Maui is an island of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific, if you didn't know! :)  
> Enjoy!

“First of all, who plans a godforsaken business meeting in Maui? I don’t care if the clients are from Australia. I had to come all the way from New York. Couldn’t we have just met at the Los Angeles office? Did I have to come to a rock in the middle of the ocean?”

“Levi, Levi, Levi! Calm down! Please just tell me you aren’t doing this in the hotel lobby…”

Levi glared around the large lobby and courtyard, daring any of the wide-eyed tourists to making a move against him. “So what if I am?!”

“Dear me, I thought I sent a mature adult over there, not a five year old,” she sighed heavily in his ear, “They paid for you to stay at that nice hotel, so don’t cause any trouble.”

“Hange, you sent me to a place where there is only sunlight. _Sunlight_ , Hange.”

The fearful woman at the counter finally handed him his key card for the room, which he took from her hand with a polite, but curt nod. He listened to his coworker sigh again as he walked to the elevators.

“I know you’re more of an indoor person, but a little tan would do you some good.”

He pushed the button for his floor number and repeatedly pressed the “Close Doors” button without remorse for the approaching family. “A tan? If I have extra time, I am staying in my room, reading a book.”

“You can’t just read a book for a week, Levi!”

The elevator released him onto his floor, and he walked with haste. “A week? Hange, I only packed enough for three days!”

“Then go shopping! Save your suits for the two meetings, and get some shorts. This is not complicated.”

“There is no mall here! I can’t just go pick some stuff up!” Levi slid the card in and back out. The green light blinked, and he got out of the hallway and through his luggage on the ground.

“No—there is! I printed a list out… Ah, um… Here! ‘Lahaina Cannery Mall’… Hey, there are even Macy’s stores in your hotel! Um…”

He fell onto the couch and kicked off his shoes. The three flights were exhausting enough and then he had to drive an hour to get to this hotel. He just wanted to relax.

“There’s a Tommy Hilfiger… Barnes—oops! Not clothing… Uh…”

Levi sat up immediately, “Wait.”

“Huh? What?”

“What were you just saying?”

“Tommy Hilfiger?”

“No, not that.”

“Oh? Barnes and Noble? Are you going to get anoth—” He hung up and opened up the map on his smart phone.

“It is only seven. I still have time.”

He got up and pushed his shoes back on, tapping his toes back in as he adjusted the backs with a finger. He left his luggage and went back out the door.

This is the best thing he’s heard all day.

* * *

He made it to the Barnes and Noble in less time than his phone predicted. Levi was in the store as soon as the rental car locked with a soft honk.

The section wouldn’t be upfront. No, they have moved it farther back in all the stores these days. He passed the Hawaiiana section and ignored the customer service person’s greeting. Left or right? The kid’s section was ahead, so, maybe… “Right,” he whispered under his breath. He spotted it within seconds.

It had been so long since he could actually go to the bookstore, to this section. Here, he can’t run into anyone he knows. No one will know about this. No one. No one that matters anyways. He can drag his finger over the spines and pick the newest one off a shelf, instead of ordering it online. Levi found the title of one he had read before and read the summary on the back, just because. Now, he’ll be able to relax on this godforsaken trip. He can get all the books he wants and just send them back home at the end of his trip.

“Hey, do you need a recommendation or something?” He almost dropped his book at the call, but didn’t acknowledge the person. “Are you looking for your kid?”

At the question, he had to correct them ever so politely. By grabbing the asshat by the collar of his t-shirt and politely correcting him in icy tone, “Do I look like a middle-aged man with a little clone monster running around? Because kids love bedtime stories like _Death Note_.” He practically, but politely, shoved the book in the guy’s face.

“What crawled up your ass and died, man?!”

“My patience.” Levi let go of the stretched collar.

The guy scrambled to see the damage. “Come on… I liked this shirt!”

“Well, I just wanted to buy my books without being insulted. I guess neither of us got what we wanted.” Levi placed the volume back on the shelf.

“I really don’t want to at this point, but can we, uh, start over or something?”

Levi picked out the newest volume in one of his series. “Depends. Does it involve you silently browsing? Otherwise, I’d rather not partake in such a thing.”

“Okay, I seriously want to start over, but not just this conversation, but your whole day so you can wake up on the right side of the bed or something.”

“This is a conversation?” Levi commented nonchalantly, sliding out another book he wanted.

“In technical terms, it is. I just meant to help you ‘cause you looked like you were looking for something, and honestly, I am feeling so attacked right now.” Despite his words, Levi caught an enthused smile in his periphery.

“Did you just use a fucking internet meme on me? Because this isn’t Tumblr.”

“You know what Tumblr _is_? And you’re in the _manga_ section? I thought you were some businessman because of the suit…”

Levi set his small, but growing stack on the shelf and turned toward the annoying guy. “I _am_ a businessman.”

He rolled his eyes in disbelief. “No _way_. You’re probably just a college student who had an interview for a part-time job today.”

“This suit is _Armani_.” Levi straightened the lapels for effect.

“And this is Pac Sun.” The guy mimicked him and pulled at the hem of his t-shirt. “Formerly unstretched as well.”

“Because you don’t get it, Armani is expensive. A successful businessman like me can afford it.”

The guy’s mouth scrunched up a little and moved to the side for a moment in thought. “Oh, wealthy parents.”

“ _No, damnit_ ,” Levi growled. “I am thirty-fucking-years-old.”

“No _way_.” This time it lacked the eye-rolling.

Levi huffed and turned back to the shelves. Maybe he’ll get some peace to buy his books now.

Yeah, right.

“A thirty-year-old businessman who knows about Tumblr and reads manga…”

“Secretly,” Levi offered indifferently.

“Secretly?”

“Reputations and shit.”

“You’re a businessman in Maui, wearing an Armani suit. Does your reputation really matter?”

“It is my job to know it matters.”

“What, are you famous?”

“I’m a social media advisor. It has to matter, or I’d be unemployed.”

“That’s a job?”

“Can I just buy some books in peace?”

“No way!”—Is that his favorite phrase?—“You’re interesting!”

“No, I’m Levi, and I am shopping.”

Suddenly, an excited face was right next to him. “Did you just do a dad joke?”

“No, I—” Oh shit, he had.

“You _use_ Tumblr?”

“Of course, that’s my job.”

“No, I mean you _use_ Tumblr, often, personally.” The guy’s enthusiasm felt like a tidal wave hanging over Levi’s head, ready to crash.

“…I guess.”

“God, can I get your Tumblr or something? Wait, I mean, phone number—I mean, how long are you here for?”

“Is that any of your business?” Levi tried to put enough harshness in his words to make the guy back off, but the guy’s eyes tinkled with anticipation so strongly that he couldn’t match his gaze. “A week, apparently.”

“Could we talk again while you are here? I could give you a tour of some places, too.”

All of Levi’s being screeched, “No!” His mind screamed, “No!” but his vocal cords betrayed him with the word, “Fine,” spilling from his traitorous lips.

The next few minutes went by fast. He gave this guy his Tumblr, and the guy checked his phone’s clock and warned Levi that the Barnes and Noble was closing in five minutes. The guy picked out a single volume and left with a “Talk to you soon!” as Levi basically ransacked the shelves, scouring for a couple more volumes. By the time he reached the cashier, the guy had long gone.

 _Damnit_.

He just wanted to relax.

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. I'll probably come back and edit later.  
> 2\. I went on a family vacation to Maui recently. I relaxed, but poor Levi on the other hand... XP  
> 3\. They had a Barnes and Noble there, and I bought manga.  
> 4\. I was upset about the Barnes and Noble in Maui initially because my college town doesn't even have one and the nearest one from it is an hour away, and books are like 30% of my life, BUT AN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC GETS ONE.  
> 5\. Thanks for reading!  
> 6\. I honestly considered being an asshole and ending it after "... and honestly, I am feeling so attacked, right now." All that work forgotten, just for a stupid punchline like that. 100% done.
> 
> I want to continue this soon because I remember a lot of details still, but who knows with me.
> 
> Please comment and tell me what you thought or suggestions for their tumblr usernames, unused ones if possible.
> 
> Off to vanquish the evil dragon named midterm!
> 
> See you next time!


End file.
